Category Archives: logos

ARMOR in Ephesians

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The armor in Ephesians 6 has been the object of at least one other study and probably will get a few more. See Putting On or Spandex Tight | Mark’s Bible Study (ificouldteachthebible.com) for my first post. Today, I will write on some of the reasons why Paul told us to put that armor on (enduo).

The Struggle or palē – This word is also translated wrestle and fight. Strong’s Greek: 3823. πάλη (palé) — wrestling, generally fight (biblehub.com) It is used once in the New Testament. (For a little advanced learning. Translators will use other Greek sources, like Homer and Herodotus, to get the meaning of these words.) The winner of Greek wrestling matches won only when they “stood” on the loser’s neck. This is what we are to do to the rulers, authorities, powers, and spiritual forces of darkness and evil. Unfortunately, we ignore this is not for flesh and blood, and certainly not fellow believers in Christ Jesus.

Stand or histēmi – See Strong’s Greek: 2476. ἵστημι (histémi) — to make to stand, to stand (biblehub.com)  This word is used many times in the New Testament and in a variety of ways.

Stand or anthistēmi – See Strong’s Greek: 436. ἀνθίστημι (anthistémi) — to set against, i.e. withstand (biblehub.com)  The KJV translates this as “withstand”; this seems weak in today’s uses of that word. Some Greek literature uses this as a military term, which fits the context of Paul’s writing. We are to oppose the darkness with force using the armor we are being instructed to wear/use. I think I might say “defend your ground”.

My Observations

  1. Jesus won.
  2. Our Old Testament has spears, bows and arrows, and slings. Did Paul forget these? They are long range weapons.
  3. I tend to think of this in Roman terms, which could be fair, expect armor has been around long before them. See 1 Samuel 18:4, this is Jonathan giving David his armor and weapons.
  4. The armour and weapons usually listed are for personal protection or close-quarter combat.
  5. The enemy uses flaming arrows.
  6. Christians have a Sword! Lol our “S – word”. Our Holy Spirit Word.
  7. Two things that do not make the list very often are the Spiritual weapons – Praying and Watching, verse 18. These may make us “Weap-on”.
  8. Have you ever seen a Sunday School lesson with a woman clothed in her armor and ready to anthistēmi?
  9. Notice the order of putting on the armor and weapons in Ephesians 6:13-18, it is how someone would get dressed by themselves to go into battle.

I like the Book of Ephesians, and the Armor section in Chapter 6. No, it is not an accident that Paul ended Ephesians with the armor in Chapter 6.

Bread in the Bible – Epiousios

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Because epiousios is in Matthew 6:11 and Luke 11:3 it is the second best-known bread in the Bible. Those references are in the center of the Lord’s Prayer, along with forgiveness, and they contain the special Greek word epiousios. How special? It is only used twice in the corpus of Greek writings and literature. Okay, I did not say just the Bible, I said all of Greek literature before the time of Jesus. (God bless translators.) It has been rendered “daily”. Never have I heard this word or how special it is; take some time and check out these links. O the verse- Give us this day our DAILY bread. (Mark translation.)

Since there is nothing to compare it to, my first reaction was MANNA! What is this special concept in the Lord’s Prayer that is sandwiched between “give us this day” and “bread”? “Daily” has worked; “for the coming day” may be just as good, or is there even more? As this is a study, I will put it in context with the Sermon on the Mount and then break that compound word down. After all of that, I will share my crust with you (The crust on a loaf of bread is special to me.).

Luke – Only Matthew and Luke recorded this prayer by the guiding hand of the Holy Spirit. Luke had heard this prayer many times before he wrote it to Theophilus. There are slight variations between the two in the Greek text but that should be expected. Others have added more and bigger changes than these slight variations. (I am working on a study on the Lord’s Prayer.) Luke 11 to me is the start of his version of the Sermon on the Mount, it does go for a few chapters.

Thoughts on the Word

The Author of Creation and the Word of Life coined a word. Epiousios was not a mistake or an accident. If you look at verse 11, it could have been said “Give us today our bread” and the meaning would have been clear.

I thank the Father for the food we have to eat and His grace for willingly taking care of my family. Do I have a simple explanation for epiousios. No, but the study has moved some “tent pegs” because my God has pushed my box out of shape. I will try to put this compound word into the context of Jesus’ sermon and His teachings for His Kingdom. Now, let’s think above our possessions.

The Sermon – I need to start/mention the baptism of Jesus (3:13), which compares to the Children passing through the Red Sea. He then goes into the wilderness and is tempted (4:1-4). The first temptation is about bread or what He needs to live on. (If it is just a number reference it is from Matthew.) Jesus then picks up and adds to John the Baptist’s message; the good news that the kingdom of heaven/God is near (4:17) and He is healing every disease (4:23). Remember that the Children came out of Egypt healed. Relax take a breath and view the Sermon as a Jesus version of the Ten Commandments and the Law. Now consider how food, water, manna, and quail played into the trip to the mountain where they met God. A note to myself – they had gold, silver, and possessions but no food or water; what did they complain about?

The Sermon has several references to food, eating, and what is needed to maintain our lives. I decided the best way to study these was to list them.

  • 5:6 – those who hunger and thirst for righteousness
  • 5:13 – you are salt (needed for life) stay flavorful
  • 5:42 – help those who need to borrow from you
  • 6:11 – gives us bread every day and “more”. We could be praying every day for what we need tomorrow. It could be a statement to give us above what we need so we can share.
  • 6:19 – watch what you are storing up
  • 6:25 – life is more important than food, Father knows we need it so don’t worry
  • 6:31 – don’t worry about what to drink or eat
  • 7:9 – if you ask Father for bread or fish, He is not going to give you something harmful
  • 7:16-20 – good fruit comes from good trees

Actual and metaphorical these verses help to open the Kingdom and show the righteous relations that God wants with the Body of Christ and that we are to have with the other parts of the Body. Luke 6:38 with the “good measure” being poured for us, then pressed, shaken, and running over is exhorting us to get out of our box and give above what is sufficient. I am beginning to feel that is a good picture of epiousios.

The Parts

Epi is a prefix in Greek, and I have seen it as a word. It can mean upon or above. We are talking about Father God, the owner of the cattle on a thousand hills.

Ousios in our “modern” jargon carries the concept of substance or being. In the Wiki article above that concept was part of the trinitarian doctrine and the controversy that arose in the early church. See Luke 15:12+13.

My Musings

I may say “daily” but I am not sure I can go that small in my thinking ever again.

Metaphorically I can see epiousios as the crust on a loaf of bread. It is on top of the substance that most people like. It has formed from the heat changing the dough to make a shield for the soft inner part. The crust can have a pleasant color. It gives me something to chew on while I enjoy the softer inside. Personally, I like to eat the crust.

Many kernels of grain are needed to make a loaf of bread. They are picked, ground up, and mixed together to make bread. The Body of Christ has many individual “kernels” that are being prepared so we can be the Bride and be presented spotless and perfect.   

Artos in the Book of Matthew

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Artos is the Greek word for bread and loaves (Strong’s G 740), and I like using Matthew as a reference point. There are kernels of truth in many other verses in the New Testament about bread, and if you look into the Hebrew, you will find lechem. The town of Bethlehem is the town of bread. So, grab a donut or make a sandwich, and let’s start studying bread. ἄρτος | Free Online Greek Dictionary | billmounce.com

Matthew 6:11, which is in the center of the Lord’s Prayer and started this study, that will be another post. After having sliced through the crust of this topic, I found many questions that needed looking at. But we will start in Matthew 4.

Jesus was fasting and the “tempter” started his grinding attacks with a “what if”. The challenge was to make bread. Elegant sermons abound for this story, and I will not attempt to match them. So, I am going to ask questions. Why stones? Stones indicate that man had used them for something. I would expect rocks to be out in the wilderness. Why bread? I love the smell of fresh bread, but what about the fragrant aroma of beef, lamb, or bird? (Check Leviticus 1, all of those are parts of sacrifices.) Jesus’ answer, in verse 4 may give us a clue or open the bag for several metaphors for bread used in Matthew and beyond. Bread, leavened or not, barley, or wheat (See Ruth 2) were the mainstay of the diet, in Egypt they even used baked bread to make the beer. We should fill our larders every day with the words of God so we can taste the righteousness and get strength from the grace that Jesus opened up to us.

I think it is fair to take a Muse Moment and look at 7:9 when in the Sermon Jesus flips the pan and asks who would give his son a stone instead of bread. The word again is lithos and not petra. Jesus is our petra, but when man “handled Him” He became the cornerstone that would cause them to stumble.

I am not leaving out any ingredients in this study, just mixing them in a slightly different order. My next stop is 12:4 where Jesus is not getting along with the Pharisees because of heads of grain. Those heads of grain put this story between Passover and the Feast of Trumpets. It had to be a carefully measured walk also because it was on the Sabbath and the Pharisees were tagging along. David and the Shewbread or Bread of the Presence and breaking the Law is the main sticking point this time. That consecrated bread is what was put into the Tabernacle to represent the twelve tribes of Israel. Jesus’ point is that He is the Lord of the Sabbath and that the Sabbath is not the lord of man. This is not a license to not rest with God one day a week, just do not make more rules to follow. Love God and love man is more than enough.

My guess is that those twelve loaves were made of barley (See Judges and the story of Gideon.) The recipe for those loaves is not written in the Law and only the priest knew how to make them. In Purpose or Prothesis, I asked about what they were made of during the forty years of wandering. They may have stayed in one place long enough to grow grain, but manna was their main food source. That of course makes them gluten-free for their time of wandering:)

I am not done, but I am hungry, so the other references on bread will be served up later.  

Moria

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With ink and leaf, melodies for the ear, art to envision the possibilities, and cinema to connect the pieces of Tolkien’s world we find his creation of Moria. The mine or house or land belonged to the dwarves and was taken over by the orcs and other terrors. This Khazad-dûm, this black pit played its role to perfection in both The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings. The Fellowship entered it by calling “friend” and left in tears and grief.

J. R. R. Tolkien the scholar and more important a Christian, who influenced C. S. Lewis to believe in Jesus seems to have used a Greek word to name this land under the Misty Mountains. Moria, Strong’s G3472, means foolishness. Paul uses this word five times in 1 Corinthians – 1:18, 21, 23; 2;14; 3:19.

The verses in Chapter 1 deal with Jesus and His Cross being foolish to Jews and Greeks, but to us who have believed it is salvation. 2:14 sees the man without the Spirit of God finding only foolishness in spiritual words and truth. Paul ends his use of these words by stating in 3:19 that the wisdom of this world is foolishness to God. If only Adam and Eve had eaten from the Tree of Life first the knowledge of good would have been given to them and the moria of evil would have been clear.  

Paul’s time in Corinth is recorded in Acts 18. Please read that before studying the Letters to the Corinthians. It is good to note that the Church that lacked no spiritual gift had troubles and trials and needed additional instruction and encouragement to live righteously (in right relations with God and each other).

Strong’s Greek: 3472. μωρία (mória) — foolishness (biblehub.com)

Synantilambanomai or Helps

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Synantilambanomai is a related post of Wonderful Counselor and with the help of Mounce, Strong, and Biblehub.com we will look at the two times it is used in the New Testament. You will find synantilambanomai in Romans 8:26 (8:27 will be added) and Luke 10:40. To help, aid, or support someone are the terms that will assist us with the verses.

This word and the verses in Romans are great examples of low-use, single-use, or added prefixes and suffixes highlighting an important thought. The online Strong’s Concordance and Mounce Dictionary may list the verses where they are found, and that allows for easy comparisons.  

I will provide a connection between our two verses as a loose example of synantilambanomai. In Romans, the Spirit is the One who helps us, by praying through us when we can’t do it ourselves. In Luke, Martha is “praying to Jesus” asking for Mary to come to her aid, so she does not have to do all the work by herself.

Our keyword has two prefixes and a suffix. This is my simple explanation for Romans. We come together with the Spirit against the problem to take or get an answer/help.  

References:

Romans 8: 26 Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. 27 And he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God. (KJV) Thank you Bible Gateway.

Yes, there is a translation difference because of variations in word meanings. (These are not in order.) When I used a parallel function, I found it interesting how the different translations chose to interpret and footnote this verse. All of them did proclaim a divine act of the Spirit. Some left a little “wiggle room” for what it may look like in the believer’s life and practice.

Intercedes

In the above verses, interceding is the main thought. In verse 26 we see the role of the Holy Spirit being our Counselor and praying through us. In verse 27 we see Jesus doing His intercession before the Father on our behalf. Of the five times the second word is used three of them refer to Jesus, two are in Romans and one in Hebrews. The other two uses are examples (I think) of how that intercession may have sounded (the intensity) or have been done. The word in verse 27 is entynchano.

In verse 26, the one that is associated with the Holy Spirit, the word is hyperentynchano; it is only used once. The prefix hyper should speak volumes to you. Combine this word and the thought of the Spirit’s help and we can understand how special that ministry is for us.

On a personal note, when I have experienced the type of intercession as described in Romans 8:26 it is profound and intense. It is more than (hyper) speaking in tongues. Since it is the Holy Spirit praying through me, I have no understanding of what I am saying and cannot control it, other than to stop. Can this be different in other people? Yes. I will not put the Holy Spirit in a box, He will work with us where we are, but He is still God. While musing on this act of the Holy Spirit, I believe that when the problem is too big for my mind or faith level, He has taken over and prayed as needed. This ministry of the Holy Spirit is more than a promise, it is why He is our paraclete and synantilambanomai.